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A surprisingly challenging thing I find about designing handknits is how often I have the urge to backseat drive, where yarn colors are concerned. Yarnmakers have mad skills that I can only dream about, and the colors they offer or don't offer are as much a part of their art as my designs are part of mine. But sometimes, try though I might not to, I formulate an opinion of what sort of yarn I want, and then set about trying to find it.

Having the cart and horse in this unnatural order nearly always leads to disappointment. It turns out that my ability to imagine a yarn in no way impacts the yarn manufacturers' desire to make one.

No, it's far better for me to see the available yarn choices first, and then concoct a design to go with them.

So imagine my dread when I made this swell handspun yarn, and then was persuaded by a friend to go searching for a companion for it. I knew exactly what I thought it needed, and despaired of ever actually finding it. And then this shade card came!

Behold the choices! Almost any of them would work beautifully! In fact, there are not one, but three contenders:

Choice "B" is a pure periwinkle, descended directly from Vinca Minor. "B" is fashionably late to parties, has far too many friends, and a weakness for pulp fiction. "B" wears cultured pearls to the dentist.

Choice "C" is the sour apple that makes your jaw ache before you've even tasted it. "C" cares not a whit for the opinions of others, wakes up appallingly early, and once lost an entire weeks' wages betting on the ponies. "C" knows which fork to use, but usually goes for the spoon.

Which of these is your favorite, Gentle readers? Which would you take out for coffee? Which would you introduce to your mother? Which would you trust with a secret? Thank you for weighing in!